VS Code cannot load extension with prerelease version if earlier, non-prerelease version is installed

[daviwil]

• VSCode Version: VS Code Stable 1.8.1 and VS Code Insiders 1.9.0
• OS Version: Windows 10 Anniversary

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Install the PowerShell extension from the Marketplace
2. Install this VSIX using code --install-extension filename.vsix: https://ci.appveyor.com/api/buildjobs/kqjgav8i2q1nowlq/artifacts/PowerShell-0.9.1-insiders-17.vsix
3. Start VS Code and open the Extensions pane
4. Observe that the new extension is recognized but it always shows the "Reload" button:

You can also see that this message is in the dev console:

Overwriting extension C:/Users/daviwil/.vscode-insiders/extensions/ms-vscode.PowerShell-0.9.1-insiders-16 with C:/Users/daviwil/.vscode-insiders/extensions/ms-vscode.PowerShell-0.9.0.

If you uninstall both extensions and then only install the "insiders" extension, everything works fine. Maybe the version comparison code for prerelease extensions isn't respecting the greater patch version digit?

[joaomoreno]

We don't currently support this.

An extension which is installed manually through a VSIX and an extension with the same ID that gets fetch from the gallery are not considered to be the same extension.

We should maybe work towards supporting this, since people expect this to just work. #17290 #15756

@sandy081

[daviwil]

It'd be really nice if it worked, I want to give my users extension packages straight out of my CI build so they can verify fixes and try new features. The inability to update the extension if an earlier version is installed as VSIX is also a problem, though I understand the concerns that you mentioned on another issue.

I'm trying to avoid having to have an additional "preview" version of the extension on the marketplace just for CI builds but if the team thinks that's the right way to do it then I can do that instead. Thanks!

[jchannon]

Would it be possible to load a specific version of an extension eg code -ext [email protected] if you had multiple versions installed. I would really like that option

So it would open the app with the latest versions (pre-release being latest) by default but if you wanted to downgrade you could specify.

The reason I ask this is because the C# plugin at some point will no longer support project.json .net core apps but I have to support a codebase with it in and in production and dont want to update it. I could then choose to install an older version of the plugin which I know supported project.json

[joaomoreno]

@daviwil Can you still repro this in the latest Insiders? I believe @sandy081 fixed it in #17290.

@jchannon That is another feature request, which likely we won't support. We always delete older versions of extension, in the face of newer ones.

[daviwil]

Sorry for the delay! Just tried this out in today's Insider's update following these steps:

1. Make sure PowerShell 0.11.0 is installed
2. Download the VSIX from here and use Extensions: Install from VSIX to install it
3. Reload VS Code
4. Prerelease version is not loaded, seems to have maintained the old version (should show 0.11.0-insiders-110):

It seems that the extension folder has been unpacked though:

[joaomoreno]

Thanks @daviwil !

@sandy081 You'll check it out?

[sandy081]

@joaomoreno Will investigate.

[joaomoreno]

@sandy081 Any updates?

[sandy081]

@joaomoreno Not yet.. have to look.

[sandy081]

@joaomoreno I think this is because we wont support beta component in version and our semver compare ignores that.

[joaomoreno]

I know the Marketplace doesn't support it, but we could. 👍

[sandy081]

This will be taken care by #39024

[vscodebot]

This issue has been closed because it is already tracked by another issue. See also our GitHub issues to search for existing issues and our issue reporting guidelines.

Happy Coding!